


Trains

by peggy_hamilton



Series: Band Of Brothers Imagines [9]
Category: Band of Brothers
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-13
Updated: 2019-08-13
Packaged: 2020-08-20 17:33:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20231683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peggy_hamilton/pseuds/peggy_hamilton
Summary: Train journeys are very long





	Trains

THE PLATFORM

You were sat in the train station that was packed full of soldiers waiting to get on the train that would bring them home, you had secured a small seat tucked away on the floor reading through a book you had picked up during the war. Being a nurse wasn’t fun, you rarely got time off and when you did you had managed to scrounge up a book and you had been holding onto it ever since. You had read it countless times, it wasn’t one you particularly liked but it was something to keep your mind off the dying soldiers. Occasionally you would even read it to them.

“What are you reading?” you looked up to see a soldier in his dress greens looking down at you, well, at your book, and he was holding his own book in one hand.

“Cause For Alarm,” you said, showing him the book cover.

“You liked Eric Ambler?” he asked with a wide smile.

You shrugged, “It’s all I have. What are you reading?”

“Background To Danger, Eric Ambler,” he grinned, “I’ve always wanted to read Cause For Alarm, is it good?”

“It’s okay, though I prefer other books I’ve read. Do you want it?” you held out the book to him, it was clear that he enjoyed the author’s books and although it was all you had a as a reminder of the war you felt it was good to let go of the book. Put it and the war behind you. It was time to move on.

“Thank you,” he took the book and chewed his lip nervously, “Let’s swap, I wouldn’t feel right just taking it and I’m afraid I don’t have any money on me.” He held out Background To Danger and you took it with a smile.

“Thanks, what’s your name?” you asked, flicking through the pages of the new book.

“David Webster,” the sound of a train pulling into the station had him turning around, “This is my ride,” he gave you an apologetic smile, “Maybe I’ll see you someday.”

“Maybe, good luck,” you gave him a small wave as he disappeared into the crowd and you began to read the new book.

—

HOUR ONE

Half an hour later your train pulled up and you tried your best to push through the crowds so you would have a chance of actually getting a seat on it. Unfortunately even by the time you got on most of the seats were filled up, you spotted an empty seat half way through the carriage and quickly moved towards it before anyone else could claim it as their own. A soldier was already sat in the window seat but you paid him no mind as you sat down and shifted to get comfy and pulled out your book and began reading where you left off only five minutes ago.

“What are you reading?” the man asked after a minute and you paused, you could already tell this guy was going to bother you for the remainder of what was shaping up to be a nine hour journey, you just hoped he got off soon.

“Background To Danger by Eric Ambler,” you replied, not even glancing at him and reading on.

“Is it any good?” he questioned further, undeterred.

“So far, I only just got it,” you replied tightly.

“Really? Where from?”

“I swapped it for another book of mine with some soldier on the platform,” you glanced over at him this time, he was in his dress greens but his floppy brown hair was still messy and untamed. He had an easy smile on his face despite you making it clear you didn’t want to talk.

“Who?” he asked curiously.

“Some guy called David Webster, we only talked briefly.”

The man laughed, “David Webster, no shit,” he seemed very amused by this information, “He was in my company.”

“Really?” that did peak your interest.

He nodded, “Yeah, he went to Harvard and everything. Though he was in a hospital for four months while we were in Bastogne,” he explained a little bitterly.

“You were in Bastogne?” you asked, you had been one of the nurses in Belgium during the battle.

“Yup,” he confirmed and held out a hand for you to shake, “George Luz. Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th parachute Infantry, 101st Airborne Division,” he rattled off proudly.

You shook his hand with a polite smile, “Y/N Y/L/N, nurse corps. Where are you headed?”

“Rhode Island,” that was at least seven hours away, “You?”

“Boston.”

George nodded, “Fun, so you’re a nurse, huh? What places have you been?”

You hummed as you thought back over your experiences, “We landed in Normandy on Utah beach, but we were stuck on the boat for days because none of the CO’s could agree on who was going to be the first to step on the beach even though the invasion was already over,” you rolled your eyes at that. “Then we were bounced all over Europe, in Bastogne for the battle of the bulge, then all over Europe again till they told us to stop. And you?”

“Normandy, Holland, Belgium, Germany,” he listed, “Sounds like we’ve been in a lot of the same places before, why haven’t we met?” he grinned.

“Ever been injured?” you smirked.

“Nah,” he shook his head.

“That’s probably why, then,” you answered dryly.

George laughed loudly, “You’re probably right. What are you going to do when you get home?”

“I have no clue. Something to do with english, I’ve always loved reading and I’d like to write my own book but that seems like an unobtainable dream. Plus, what would I even write about?”

“Being a nurse,” he suggested.

You shook your head, “Not really something I want to write about or think about again, if I’m honest. Maybe I could be an editor, work for a publisher, or teach english at school,” you thought out loud.

“I’m sure you’ll be great at whatever you put your mind to,” he said sincerely.

You smiled at him, “Thank you. What are you going to do?”

“Maybe go back to school. I dropped out in senior year to get work to support my family so I could go back and do that, or maybe try and get my old job back. Who knows? First I’m gonna visit my family, I’ve got nine siblings I haven’t seen in years.”

“Nine!?” you exclaimed in shock and also mildly in horror.

George laughed and nodded, “Oh yeah, six sisters and three brothers. It’s a busy household.”

“You’re telling me,” your eyes were still wide, “I wouldn’t know what that’s like, it’s only me in my house.”

“You’ve got no brothers or sisters?” he inquired.

“No,” you shook your head, “Just me. My parents could really only afford me, not that I want any siblings, they seem like a lot of work.”

He laughed, “They are, they are,” he agreed.

—

HOUR THREE

“And so he thought major Horton was going through the platoon,” George laughed as he told his story that had you laughing nonstop, “And he cut the fence and let out all the cows, they were all over battalion. Here’s the thing, Major Horton was in leave in London and Sobel got in so much shit for it.”

“Did you ever get found out?” you asked though your laughter.

“No,” George shook his head, “He had no proof, he was pretty pissed for the rest of the day.”

“No kidding, he sounds like a right dick.”

George laughed even louder, much to the annoyance of the other passengers on the train who were trying to sleep, “That’s putting it mildly.”

—

HOUR FOUR

“The latrines were basically just a slit dug in the ground we had to squat over, no coverage or anything, it was disgusting,” you set the scene with a grimace. “Then Frances was over there and fell. In.”

“No way,” George’s eyes widened, “Was she okay?”

You shrugged, “Who cares, everyone hated her. She was our very own Sobel, if you will. All I know it we got proper latrines after that so I’m not complaining,” you grinned wide and George laughed, the two of you had been sharing various stories from your time in the war.

Your book lay forgotten on your lap, you hadn’t expected to get on with George but he was in fact a very good person to have on a long journey to keep your spirits up. At least, if you weren’t trying to sleep.

—

HOUR FIVE

“Ugh, Sergeant Lipton you stay here… and I’m going to go for…help,” George did another impression of his former CO.

You had quickly learned that George was very good at doing an impersonation of just about anyone which only added to his storytelling skills, you supposed that came in handy having so many younger siblings. Every time he digressed into a story you were completely enamoured, his eyes would light up and it was as if everything else faded away.

“There’s no way,” you shook your head in disbelief, “I’ve experience my fair share of bad CO’s but seriously? You’ve got to be kidding!”

“I’m serious,” George nodded quickly, “Just walked away, he was always wandering off the line. Nobody knew where to find him.”

“Christ,” you breathed, “What happened?”

“He froze up in battle and Speirs replaced him, now he was a good CO. Scariest guy I’ve ever met, though. On D-Day, he shot something like 20 POW’s,” he divulged into another story.

—

HOUR SEVEN

“Providence, Rhode Island,” someone called out and soldiers began to get off.

“This is me,” George said, his shoulders slumped in disappointment.

“Oh,” you said, disappointed yourself, you hadn’t noticed the time flying by. It had gone dark outside and George had to get off now or he’d miss his stop. “I guess this is goodbye then.”

“Yeah,” George nodded, “Listen, this may sound crazy, but if I give you my address would you write me? I kind of don’t want to lose contact with you,” he blushed and rubbed the back of his head.

You nodded quickly, “Of course.” You scrambled through your back for a pencil but couldn’t find any paper, you spotted the book that lay discarded and quickly handed it to him. “Write it on the inside cover.”

George scribbled out his name and address on the book and handed it back to you, “It was nice meeting you, Y/N. Don’t forget to write,” he gave you another charming grin before dashing off the train.

Your eyes followed him as he wandered through the platform, the train jolted and began moving once more and pulled you away from Rhode Island.

—

HOUR NINE

You had been reading Background To Danger for the past few hours but the story wasn’t nearly as good as any of the once George had told you. You had his address memorised by now, just in case you lost the book, the first thing you did when you got back would be to write him, you just hoped he wrote you back.

“Boston, end of the line.”

You gathered your things and made your way off with the few remaining soldiers, it was practically midnight and freezing cold. You held the book close to your chest as you walked through the familiar streets of your home town but it seemed so different. All your mind could think about was George Luz, his eyes, his smile, his voice. It was crazy that a guy who you had only met nine hours ago, and had only spoken to for seven of those, was taking over your brain but for whatever reason you didn’t want to stop that.

—

Three hours since the train ride

You stared at the blank paper in front of you, you had thought you would have a lot more to say than just your return address. What more could you say to the guy that would fill an entire page, talking face to face was so much easier than a one sided conversation with a piece of paper that had been sitting in a desk for years.

Tapping your pencil against the desk you decided to plunge right in and let yourself write, this wasn’t some school essay and you didn’t have to send it if it sounded like crap.

Dear George,

It’s me, Y/N, the nurse from the train. This may seem silly but I enjoyed the ride with you, despite at first thinking you may be the reason I would hate it. It would be a shame to not see you again after we got on so well, so I propose we meet up at a halfway point in the near future. Any suggestion?


End file.
